NEWS --Approximately 160 Soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard’s 851st Vertical Engineer Company, based at Camp Ripley, will depart tomorrow for a nine month deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. “The 851st and its Soldiers have been preparing for this mission over the last year and have spent a lot of long days ensuring the company is ready for this deployment,” said Capt. Brandon Johnson, the company commander. “There is no doubt in my mind that the Soldiers within this company are some of the best the Minnesota National Guard has to offer and I’m honored to serve alongside them.” While deployed, the Soldiers will conduct engineer support missions in Kuwait as well as over the horizon throughout CENTCOM in support of units stationed in multiple nations. The deployment ceremony is 6:00pm Wednesday at the Little Falls Community High School.
--Every spring Camp Ripley begins its annual controlled burn program to help reduce the risk of wild fire during training. As in years past Camp Ripley will conduct controlled burns on approximately 17,000 acres of the 53,000 acre military reservation. Small fires are common dependent on the type of training being conducted. There are safety protocols, but as an installation, they like to get ahead of it before a fire happens. The burns are done in coordination with staff members of the Camp Ripley Fire department, Department of Public Works and the Camp Ripley Environmental Department along with support from the Minnesota DNR. Many of the native grasses on Camp Ripley are fire dependent species. The controlled burns eliminate old and dried grass allowing new shoots to spring forth. This year they are working with several state partners to combine training opportunities while conducting the burns. Residents of the Little Falls, Randall, Pillager, Baxter, Brainerd and Fort Ripley areas may notice or smell smoke originating from Camp Ripley. These periodic controlled burns will be conducted throughout the spring season to mitigate the risk of wildfires that may potentially endanger training.
--A Minnesota judge has ordered the release of state files on the 27-year investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Jacob Wetterling. Stearns County officials had planned to release the case file after Danny Heinrich confessed to the 1989 abduction and killing of 11-year old Jacob Wetterling. Jacob's parents, Patty and Jerry Wetterling, sued to keep 168 pages containing personal information sealed. District Judge Ann L. Carrott ruled Thursday that any files connected to the investigation of a criminal case become public record once the case is concluded. The Wetterling's said in a statement they were saddened by the ruling but thankful for the judge's careful consideration of their concerns. The county attorney says parties have 60 days to appeal and it will wait until then to release any documents.
--A 53-year-old Ironton man has been found guilty of possessing and receiving image files containing child pornography. Roger Splettstoeszer was charged with four counts and found guilty by a federal jury in Minneapolis. A sentencing date was not announced. He faces up to 40 years in prison from all counts against him.
--The 8th annual Day of Caring for Little Falls and surrounding areas is Wednesday, May 9th. A reminder again to the homeowners who signed up that someone needs to be at the residence during the time of the Day of Caring. For information call the Little Falls High School.
--The Sauk Rapids-Rice school district has chosen its next principal for Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. Eighteen people applied for the position and after an extensive interview process, six candidates were finalists. The district has decided to hire from within and selected Karl Nohner. Nohner is currently serving as a co-principal at the high school. He has been an assistant principal since 2016 and was a social studies teacher for six years. Nohner has his bachelor's degree from St. John's University, his master's from Concordia University and finished his fifth and sixth-year program at St. Cloud State University. Former Principal Erich Martens accepted a job as Executive Director of the Minnesota State High School League back in November. He left Sauk Rapids Rice earlier this year.
--Timberwood Church in Nisswa did not go up in flames thanks to a sprinkler system that put out a kitchen fire on Friday. No one was in the building at the time. Around 9:00am the Nisswa Fire Department with mutual aid from the Brainerd Fire Department responded to the church along Highway 371. Upon arrival firefighters discovered a small kitchen fire that was already put out. The sprinkler system had activated and put the fire out. There was really no structural damage to the building but they did need to do some water cleanup.
--The City of St. Joseph has placed its police chief on paid administrative leave. City Administrator Judy Weyrens says Chief Joel Klein has been suspended with pay while the city investigates a complaint made against him. Weyrens could not reveal the details surrounding the complaint, saying it's a private personnel matter at this time. Klein has been with the St. Joseph Police Department since 2001. He's been the police chief since 2013.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS --Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, have had another child. Catherine gave birth to a baby boy on Monday. This is the third child for the Royal couple, Prince George is 4, Princess Charlotte is 2 and now the third, whose name is yet to come.
DEATH NOTICES --Alan Nelson, age 76 of California, formerly of Little Falls.
WEATHER TODAY= mostly cloudy, isolated sprinkles, breezy, high 55. TONIGHT= clearing, cooler, low near 30. WEDNESDAY= sunny skies, high near 60, clear night, low 40. THURSDAY= cloudy and windy, isolated showers, high 57.
SPORTS TWINS= Yankees bludgeon the Twins with four homeruns leading to a 14-1 rout Monday. Twins continue series in New York, a bit earlier tonight as the pregame is at 5pm on Q92 WYRQ. NBA= Houston outscores the Timberwolves 50-20 in the third quarter in route to a 119-100 win to take a 3-1 lead in the series Monday. Game 5 is in Houston on Wednesday night. NHL= The Minnesota Wild ended their relationship with General Manager Chuck Fletcher on Monday dismissing him after 9 seasons. HS SB= Eden Valley-Watkins at Pierz four a double-header in softball this Thursday at 4pm on FM94 KFML and fallsradio.com. Also you can check out the update sports schedules of area teams online at fallsradio.com and sports as many teams try to get those games in.